Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Link Between Benevolence and Well-Being in the Context of Human-Resource Marketing

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although interest in the subject of human-resource marketing is growing among researchers and practitioners, there have been remarkably few studies on the effects on employees of how benevolent their organization is. This article looks at the link between the presumption of organizational benevolence and the well-being of employees at work. The results of an empirical study of 595 employees show that the presumption of organizational benevolence is positively linked to employee well-being. The effect is indirect, as it is mediated by the perceived level of organizational support. The existence of a link between employee well-being and intention to quit the company is also confirmed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Kelly service survey http://www.kellyservices.fr/uploadedFiles/Dev_Kelly_Services(1)/rapport%20KGWI%20n%C2%B01.pdf.

  2. According to a study by Hay Group, in partnership with CEBR (Center for Economics and Business Research), the rate of employee turnover in France in 2013 was 13.7%. The study found that 30% of employees wanted to stay with their current company for between 3 and 5 years—the second highest rate in Europe. Furthermore, the study showed that, by 2018, the turnover rate would increase by two percentage points (to 15.1%), http://www.myrhline.com/actualite-rh.

  3. Hair et al. (2014) consider that chi-2 should be considered less essential than other adequacy indicators that are often used at present (p. 582). They pointed out that a small number of observed variables (less than 12) are commonly translated as a non-significant chi-2 (Table 4, p. 584).

  4. https://business.lesechos.fr/directions-ressources-humaines/ressources-humaines/bien-etre-au-travail/0202401131362-la-bienveillance-a-t-elle-sa-place-au-travail-2901.php.

  5. Les Echos Le Cercle: https://www.lesechos.fr/idees-debats/cercle/cercle-164869-les-10-commandements-de-la-bienveillance-en-entreprise-2056939.php.

  6. French Directorates for Enterprise, Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs, Labor and Employment: http://www.santeperformance.fr/documents/ressources/bien-etre-au-travail-et-perf-eco-direcctera.pdf.

Abbreviations

WB:

Well-being

POB:

Presumption of organizational benevolence

POS:

Perceived organizational support

References

  • Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural modeling in practice: A review and recommended two steps approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aselage, J., & Eisenberger, R. (2003). Perceived organizational support and psychological contracts: A theoretical integration. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(5), 491–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baran, B., Rhoades, L., & Miller, L. (2012). Advancing organizational support theory into the twenty-first century world of work. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27(2), 123–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social-psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentein, K., Stinglhamber, F., & Vandenberghe, C. (2000). L’engagement des salariés dans le travail. Revue Québécoise de Psychologie, 21(3), 133–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biétry, F., & Creusier, J. (2013). Proposition d'une échelle de mesure positive du bien-être au travail. Revue de gestion des ressources humaines, 1(87), 23–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunel, O., & Morrisson, O. (2008). Les effets médiateurs de la confiance et de l’attachement dans la relation satisfaction-intentions de réachat pour le traitement des réclamations. In XXIVth Annual Conference of the AFM (Association Française de Marketing), Paris, 15–16 May 2008.

  • Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., & Flood, B. (2015). Linking ethical leadership to employee well-being: The role of trust in supervisor. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 653–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, N., & Mahadi, N. (2017). mutual recognition respect between leaders and followers: Its relationship to follower job performance and well-being. Journal of Business Ethics, 141(1), 163–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, R. H. (2013). Plaidoyer pour un leadership bienveillant. L’Expansion Management Review, 1(148), 90–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, J. J., & Viswesvaran, C. (1999). Positive and negative Affect: A meta-analysis. In Presentation at the 14th annual conference of the society for industrial and organizational psychology, Atlanta, GA; April 1999.

  • Coyle-Shapiro, J., & Conway, N. (2005). Exchange relationships: Examining psychological contracts and perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 774–781.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Emmons, R. A. (1985). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(5), 1105–1117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Larsen, R. J. (1993). The experience of emotional well-being. In M. Lewis & J. M. Havilland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions. New York: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 403–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DIRECCTE. (2014). Bien-être au travail & performance économique. Le sens et la reconnaissance au cœur de la performance. June 8–17. http://www.rhone-alpes.direccte.gouv.fr/.

  • Doney, P. P., & Cannon, J. P. (1997). An Examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 61(2), 35–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberger, R., Armeli, S., Rexwinkel, B., Lynch, P. D., & Rhoades, L. (2001). Reciprocation of perceived organisational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 42–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberger, R., & Stinglhamber, F. (2011). Perceived organizational support: Fostering enthusiastic and productive employees. Washington, DC: APA Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frisou, J. (2000). Confiance interpersonnelle et engagement: Une réorientation béhavioriste. Recherche et Application en Marketing, 15(1), 63–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganesan, S. (1994). Determinants of long-term orientation in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 58(2), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giraud, L. (2015). L’intention de quitter l’entreprise: Une approche par l’étape de carrière. Revue de Gestion des Ressources Humaines, 3(97), 58–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorge, H., Özçaglar-Toulouse, N., & Toussaint, S. (2015). Bien-être and well-being in consumer research: A comparative analysis. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 30(2), 104–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gouteron, J. (2008). L’impact de la personnalité de la marque sur la relation à la marque dans le domaine de la téléphonie mobile. La Revue des Sciences de Gestion, 5(233), 115–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero, S., & Herrbach, O. (2008). The affective underpinnings of psychological contract fulfilment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(1), 4–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurviez, P., & Korchia, M. (2002). Proposition d’une échelle de mesure multidimensionnelle de la confiance dans la marque. Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 17(3), 41–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F. Jr, Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed., p. 734). Upper Saddle River: Pearson New International Edition.

  • Holman, D., Chissick, C., & Totterdell, P. (2002). The effects of performance monitoring on emotional labor and well-being in call centers. Motivation and Emotion, 26(1), 57–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jöreskog, K. G. (1971). Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations. Psychometrika, 36, 409–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtessis, J., Eisenberger, R., Ford, M. T., Bufardi, L. C., Stewart, K. A., & Adis, C. S. (2017). Perceived organizational support: A meta-analytic evaluation of organizational support theory. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1854–1884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lachmann, H., Larose, C., Penicaud, M., & Moleux, M. (2010). Bien-être et efficacité au travail, Dix propositions pour améliorer la santé psychologique au travail. Rapport au Premier ministre, La Documentation française, April 2010.

  • Lleó de Nalda, A., Guillén, M., & Gil Pechuán, I. (2016). The influence of ability, benevolence, and integrity in trust between managers and subordinates: the role of ethical reasoning. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(4), 556–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, A. H., Frager, R., & Cox, R. (1970). Motivation and personality (Vol. 2). New York: Harper & Row.

  • Massé, R., Poulin, C., Dassa, C., Lambert, J., Bélair, S., & Battaglini, A. (1998). Élaboration et validation d’un outil de mesure du bien-être psychologique: L’ÉMMBEP. Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique, 89(5), 352–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ménard, J., & Brunet, L. (2012). Authenticité et bien-être au travail: une invitation à mieux comprendre les rapports entre le soi et son environnement de travail. Pratiques Psychologiques, 18(1), 89–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, J. E. (2000). One road to turnover: An examination of work exhaustion in technology professionals. MIS Quarterly, 24(1), 141–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panczuk, S., & Point, S. (2011). Enjeux et outils du marketing EH. Promouvoir et vendre les ressources humaines. Editions Eyrolles.

  • Poon, J. M. L. (2013). Effects of benevolence, integrity, and ability on trust-in-supervisor. Employee Relations, 35(4), 396–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prottas, D. J. (2013). Relationships among employee perception of their manager’s behavioral integrity, moral distress, and employee attitudes and well-being. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(1), 51–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rempel, J. K., Homes, J. G., & Zanna, M. P. (1985). Trust in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(1), 95–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades, L., & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 698–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades, L., Eisenberger, R., & Armeli, S. (2001). Affective commitment of the organization: the contribution of perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(5), 825–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolland, J.-P. (2000). Le bien-être subjectif: Revue de question. Pratiques Psychologiques, 1, 5–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, S. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In S. Leinhart (Ed.), Sociological Methodology 1892 (pp. 290–312). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warr, P. (1990). The measurement of well-being and other aspects of mental health. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63(3), 193–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warr, P., Barter, J., & Brownbridge, G. (1983). On the independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(3), 644–651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1992). On traits and temperament: general and specific factors of emotional experience and their relation to the five factor model. Journal of Personality, 60(2), 441–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T. A., & Bonett, D. G. (2007). Job satisfaction and psychological well-being as nonadditive predictors of workplace turnover. Journal of Management, 33(2), 141–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (1997). Well-being, satisfaction and job performance: Another look at the happy/productive worker thesis. Academy of Management Proceedings, 364–368.

  • Yang, C. (2014). Does ethical leadership lead to happy workers? a study on the impact of ethical leadership, subjective well-being, and life happiness in the chinese culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(3), 513–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IAE Université de Bordeaux, Institut de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations (IRGO), 35, avenue Abadie, 33100, Bordeaux, France

    Laïla Benraiss-Noailles

  2. Département Techniques de Commercialisation, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 17 rue de France, 69100, Villeurbanne, France

    Catherine Viot

  3. Laboratoire SAF (Sciences Actuarielle et Financière), 50, Avenue Tony Garnier, 69366, Lyon Cedex 07, France

    Catherine Viot

Authors
  1. Catherine Viot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laïla Benraiss-Noailles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine Viot.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Viot, C., Benraiss-Noailles, L. The Link Between Benevolence and Well-Being in the Context of Human-Resource Marketing. J Bus Ethics 159, 883–896 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3834-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3834-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation